Ep. 4: The Youkai Policeman
is the fourth episode of Ninja Sentai Kakuranger. It concludes the two-part battle with Azukiarai and introduced the combined form of the Giant Beast Generals, Muteki Shogun. Synopsis When Seikai is arrested by the police-manipulating Azukiarai, the other Kakuranger try to rescue him, even without the help of Sasuke. Plot After The Announcers recap, we join our Seikai and Saizou at a restaurant, where Seikai is stuffing his face and Saizou is disgusted by Seikai stuffing his face. But, as The Announcer points out, they are being watched: Azukiarai is just outside the window, hidden in a garbage can. He’s plotting his revenge on the Kakurangers for stealing the scrolls in the last episode. Leaving the restaurant, Saikai is distracted by a pretty girl, and gives chase, running into the street when the crossing signals red. Immediately he is arrested by a policeman (who is actually Azukiarai in disguise) for jaywalking. When Saizou chimes in that he can’t do that, he is immediately charged with interfering with an officer. As more squad cars drive up than is strictly necessary, the make a run for it. The police chase them, and Seikai and Saizou rack up more and more absurd charges. Eventually they’re cornered in an alleyway. Although Saizou is able to scale the wall, Seikai is arrested before he can make it. Meeting back up with the rest of the Kakurangers, Saizou finds himself being chewed out by Sasuke for leaving Seikai behind. Tsuruhime calms them down and reminds them who really was at fault: the out of line and overzealous policeman. Sasuke vows to march down to the precinct and give them a piece of his mind. However, once he’s there, Sasuke gets cold feet and tries to back out. He passes the duty to Saizou, who passes it to Jiraiya, who can’t speak Japanese. Their bickering is interrupted by a young boy named Shigeru, who warns them that all the officers there are Youkai. And indeed, the officers outside do act very strange. Inside Nekomaru, Shigeru fill the Kakurangers in: His father was once chief of the local police department. He was investigating the possibility that there might be a Youkai in the department just before he disappeared. This reminds Jiraiya of the Azukiarai, and his disguise as a policeman. Inside the police station, Seikai is being interrogated by Azukiarai, who says that for all the (trumped up) charges Seikais racked up, he deserves the death penalty. Seikai is skeptical that there even is a death penalty, but Azukiarai pulls out his gun and takes aim. Outside, the rest of the Kakurangers hear Seikai's screams of panic, and immediately plan to sneak in and rescue Seikai, despite it obviously being a trap. However, Sasuke thinks it’s too dangerous. That night, the Kakurangers infiltrate the police station, but are soon cornered by Azukiarai and a band of Dorodoros. They change, and try to fight them off. Before they can do anything however, they find themselves trapped by Azukiarais ninpo, the Phantom Garbage Can. Azukiarai throws the garbage can into the trunk of a police car, and drives off. However, Shigeru is hiding outside, and rides off on his bicycle to inform Sasuke, who is waiting at Nekumaru. It turns out Sasuke had tried to get the rest of the team to go without him, figuring that if all of them got captured, there would be no one left to save them. Feeling that there’s nothing Sasuke can do by himself, Shigeru bursts into tears. Sasuke vows to rescue Shigeru father, and the rest of his team. It turns out that the rest of the Kakurangers are being held in the Youkai restaurant, where the Youkai are having a massive party to celebrate the opening of the Door of Seals, and the capture of the Kakurangers. Tsuruhime holds out hope that Sasuke will rescue them. The rest of the team, not so much. Sasuke, having tracked down the location of the restaurant with Shigeru, sneaks inside by transforming into a fly. Once inside, he disguises himself as a Youkai, and sets to work untying the ropes holding his teammates. However, Azukiarai sees right through Sasukes disguise. Thankfully he had finished undoing the ropes on his teammates, and they back him up. Azukiarai halts their attack by bringing our Shigeru’s father, with a knife at his throat. Suddenly, Shigeru comes barreling through the door, knocking down the Dorodoros holding his father. The Kakurangers change and a massive brawl begins, with every single Youkai in the restaurant trying to take down the Kakurangers. In the crossfire, Shigeru escapes with his father, as does Azukiarai with the Kakurangers got on his heels. After a tricky chase that involves multiple transformations and vehicles, Azukiarai finds himself losing the fight, and transforms into a giant. In response, the Kakurangers transform into their Giant Beast Generals. Azukiarai sucks them into his Garbage can, and tries to boil them alive, but they escape, and combine into Muteki Shogun. The following fight is short and one sided, and Azukiarai quickly falls to the Flaming Shogun Sword. Being able to combine, however, does not automatically make the Kakurangers best of friends, as later we see Sasuke lounging on the grass, demanding his teammates rub his sore muscles from the battle to repay him for saving them. Eventually, Sasuke dozes off, and the rest of the Kakurangers drive off in Nekomaru without him. Cast * : * : * : * : * : *The Announcer: Guest Cast * : *Shigeru: *Shigeru's father: Notes *'Eyecatch' **'Featured Kakuranger (Pre-Break):' NinjaRed **'Featured Kakuranger (Post-Break):' NinjaRed *Seikai's devouring of six whole bowls of curry honors the tradition of Yellow heroes who tend to have an appetite for the dish ever since the original Kirenger. DVD Releases *''Ninja Sentai Kakuranger'' Volume 1 features episodes 1-11.http://www.toei-video.co.jp/DVD/kakurenger.html *The complete Kakuranger series was released in North America by Shout! Factory in 2016. See Also References Category:Ninja Sentai Kakuranger Category:Sentai episodes Category:Written by Noboru Sugimura